Travel Channel program to feature Carrollton's face in the courthouse window

The face in the courthouse window is seen as snow falls in Carrollton on Jan. 17. The Travel Channel's program "Monumental Mysteries" will air a segment tonight about the legend surrounding the face in the courthouse window in Carrollton.

File | Dusty Compton | The Tuscaloosa News

Staff report

Published: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 11:49 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 11:49 a.m.

The Travel Channel's program "Monumental Mysteries" will air a segment Thursday about the legend surrounding the face in the courthouse window in Carrollton.

Facts

On the web

www.travelchannel.com/video/haunting-by-an-executed-slave

Thursday's segment will be on at 8 p.m. on channel 69 for Comcast cable customers.

According to the Travel Channel's website, the program "scours the country for America's most extraordinary monuments and reveals the amazing mysteries hidden within."

The legend surrounding the Pickens County Courthouse begins with Henry Wells, a freed slave.

In 1878, Wells, who was accused of burning down the previous courthouse, looked down from the garret room window of the Pickens County Courthouse at a mob threatening to lynch him.

A bolt of lightning struck the window pane and etched what seems to be his features in it, where the image can be seen to this day.

During the Civil War, the original courthouse had been burned to the ground by Union soldiers commanded by General John T. Croxton, who also torched the University of Alabama. In 1878, the replacement building was burned to the ground, and Wells, a freed slave, was convicted of the act. But he wasn't arrested until two years later in Fairfield, south of Aliceville.

Legend has it Wells protested his innocence and threatened to haunt the lynch mob. Then the lightning struck. Wells died of gunshot wounds sustained in his arrest.

"The Face in the Courthouse Window" was featured in Kathryn Tucker Windham's "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey" book.

Each year, Carrolton hosts a production of the Barry Bradford play "The Face in the Courthouse Window," which is performed inside the courthouse.

<p>The Travel Channel's program "Monumental Mysteries" will air a segment Thursday about the legend surrounding the face in the courthouse window in Carrollton.</p><p>Thursday's segment will be on at 8 p.m. on channel 69 for Comcast cable customers. </p><p>According to the Travel Channel's website, the program "scours the country for America's most extraordinary monuments and reveals the amazing mysteries hidden within." </p><p>The legend surrounding the Pickens County Courthouse begins with Henry Wells, a freed slave.</p><p>In 1878, Wells, who was accused of burning down the previous courthouse, looked down from the garret room window of the Pickens County Courthouse at a mob threatening to lynch him. </p><p>A bolt of lightning struck the window pane and etched what seems to be his features in it, where the image can be seen to this day.</p><p>During the Civil War, the original courthouse had been burned to the ground by Union soldiers commanded by General John T. Croxton, who also torched the University of Alabama. In 1878, the replacement building was burned to the ground, and Wells, a freed slave, was convicted of the act. But he wasn't arrested until two years later in Fairfield, south of Aliceville. </p><p>Legend has it Wells protested his innocence and threatened to haunt the lynch mob. Then the lightning struck. Wells died of gunshot wounds sustained in his arrest.</p><p>"The Face in the Courthouse Window" was featured in Kathryn Tucker Windham's "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey" book.</p><p>Each year, Carrolton hosts a production of the Barry Bradford play "The Face in the Courthouse Window," which is performed inside the courthouse.</p>